Airborne First Aid in the Austrian Alps

Publication Year: 1955.

AIRBORNE FIRST AID IN THE AUSTRIAN ALPS

In 1953 the efficiency of helicopters in high-mountain rescue work was first demonstrated in the Alps on a large scale. Experience derived from that freak winter, which by reason of its unprecedented heavy snowfall produced very unusual and too often disastrous avalanches, has led to the establishment by the Austrians of an airborne first-aid unit, using helicopters as carriers. With Graz in Styria as a base for experiments in operational organization, rescue squads of 22, which include 4 physicians, have now been equipped to answer calls in any part of the country. This first-aid service will be used in cooperation with the Austrian Red Cross.

Canine star of many of these avalanche rescue operations has been the now famous Lux, trained and bred in Austria. Innumerable and grueling trials have been conducted and have conclusively demonstrated that, following a parachute leap from a helicopter, this dog will go into instant action, pick up a scent with remarkable rapidity, and track down buried victims. His record for instant obedience to a great number of complicated commands is flawless, and his amazing rescue operations during and since the 1953 avalanche season have made Lux one of the most distinguished of dog heroes.

Christine L. Orcutt